Thousands of police officers will be deployed in London for Tommy Robinson\u2019s rally<\/p>\n
Tommy Robinson\u2019s \u2018Unite the Kingdom\u2019 rally is so controversial that the British government has deployed the latest surveillance technology against attendees and banned speakers from entering the country. What are they so scared of?Tens of thousands of protesters are expected at the Unite the Kingdom rally in London on Saturday, where they will march through the streets of the British capital to government buildings at Whitehall. The rally is expected to be the largest right-wing gathering in the UK this year, as public anger against Prime Minister Keir Starmer builds on both sides of the political spectrum.
\nWhat is Unite the Kingdom?<\/p>\n
The first Unite the Kingdom rally took place in July 2024. Riding a wave of right-wing anger \u2013 amplified by the stabbing of three children by a teenager of Rwandan descent two days later \u2013 organizer Tommy Robinson held further events that October, and in September 2025.
\nLast year\u2019s rally took place after a wave of protests and riots at hotels housing asylum seekers, and included speeches from French Reconquete (Reconquest) leader Eric Zemmour, Polish Law and Justice MEP Dominik Tarczynski, and Elon Musk, who addressed demonstrators via video link.<\/p>\n
Supporters of Tommy Robinson assemble for the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march in London, England, September 13, 2025<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0 Getty Images; \u00a0Guy Smallman <\/p>\n
Described by the media as \u201canti-Islam,\u201d\u00a0\u201cfar-right,\u201d and \u201cxenophobic,\u201d the rally drew attendees frustrated with rising immigration, the growing influence of Islam in British politics, and Starmer\u2019s response to earlier protests and riots \u2013 which involved jailing hundreds of people for online speech and advancing a draconian online censorship bill.
\nThis year\u2019s protest promises much of the same, although Unite the Kingdom\u2019s website is opaque about the nature of the event. The rally will \u201cbring UK citizens together in London for a peaceful, people-led assembly focused on unity, awareness, and collective responsibility,\u201d the site states. \u201cThe event is designed to provide a safe and respectful space for individuals to come together, connect with one another, and stand united on the issues affecting our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
A supporter of Tommy Robinson marches towards Westminster Bridge during the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally in London, England, September 13, 2025<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0 Getty Images; \u00a0Lab Ky Mo <\/p>\n
How many people will take part in Unite the Kingdom?
\nLondon\u2019s Metropolitan Police expect around 50,000 people to attend the rally, but organizers expect many times that number. Unite the Kingdom\u2019s organizers claim that a million people took part in last year\u2019s rally, but police put the figure at 150,000.
\nIs Unite the Kingdom violent?
\nTwenty-three people were arrested at last year\u2019s protest, the majority for assault, disorder, and obstructing police officers. Minor scuffles broke out between protesters, police, and left-wing counterprotesters, and one left-wing demonstrator was also detained.<\/p>\n
\u2018Unite The Kingdom\u2019 demo turns ugly in London as protesters and police clash. In a statement, the Met police said 26 officers were injured. They admitted the number in attendance \u201csignificantly exceeded the estimates of organisers\u201d. FULL VIDEO on YT: https:\/\/t.co\/6LFyhUNvtd pic.twitter.com\/epZFuwY1T4\u2014 Urban Pictures (@Urban_Pictures) September 14, 2025 <\/p>\n
These numbers paled in comparison to the 423 arrests made two weeks earlier at the Notting Hill Carnival, an annual celebration of black and Caribbean culture in London. The violence at Notting Hill received almost no media coverage, while headlines used to describe Unite the Kingdom included \u201cTommy Robinson protesters attack police\u201d and \u201cFar right\u2019s show of force leaves Met desperately kettling counter-protesters.\u201d
\nWho is Tommy Robinson?<\/p>\n
Tommy Robinson attends the Unite The Kingdom rally in London, England, September 13, 2025<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0 Getty Images; \u00a0Ben Montgomery <\/p>\n
Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) has been a fixture on the British right for decades. After a youth spent racking up a petty criminal record in the anti-Islam \u2018English Defence League\u2019, Robinson reinvented himself as a filmmaker, free speech activist, and crusader against Islamic immigration after breaking with the EDL in 2013.
\nIn the years since, Robinson has been jailed for filming alleged members of a Pakistani rape gang during their trial, and for falsely claiming that a Syrian refugee in a Yorkshire secondary school had a history of assaulting female students. Robinson was arrested as he attempted to leave England the day after the 2024 Unite the Kingdom rally and imprisoned for airing a documentary containing the allegations about the Syrian refugee at the protest.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: What you need to know about the Pakistani rape gangs Musk is tweeting about<\/p>\n
Robinson is a vocal supporter of Israel, and has received substantial funding from the Middle East Forum, a pro-Israel think tank, and American billionaire Robert Shillman, who sits on the board of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. Right-wing opponents of Robinson say that he does Israel\u2019s bidding by focusing his activism solely on Islam, rather than on third-word migration more broadly.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Why is Keir Starmer\u2019s government so unpopular?<\/p>\n
What is timely about the Unite the Kingdom rally?
\nThe rally takes place one week after Starmer\u2019s Labour Party suffered an historic defeat in local elections across England. Labour lost almost 1,500 seats, 60% of the seats it was defending, and Starmer \u2013 the most unpopular prime minister in modern British history \u2013 heads into the weekend embroiled in a leadership contest after refusing to resign.
\nNigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK was the biggest winner in the local elections, picking up 1,492 seats \u2013 almost as many as Labour lost. For Starmer, the sight of tens of thousands of right-wingers marching in London can only add insult to injury.
\nHow is the government preparing for the rally?
\nRobinson and his supporters will face an unprecedented police presence on Saturday. Some 4,000 Metropolitan Police officers will be deployed on the streets of the capital in riot gear, with armed response units on standby. Mounted units, dog units, and undercover detectives will be active, while drones will be used to monitor the crowds from above.
\nFacial recognition cameras will be installed in areas where attendees are expected to gather before the rally, \u201ccomparing the faces of those walking past, with the faces of those on a specific watchlist,\u201d police spokesman James Harman said at a press conference on Wednesday.
\n\u201cIf hate speech is used at the rally, we, the police will intervene,\u201d Harman added, warning that \u201cboth the speakers and the organizers will face consequences if that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
We will block far right agitators from traveling to Britain this weekend for a march designed to confront and provoke our diverse capital city.We will not allow people to come to the UK, threaten our communities and spread hate on our streets. pic.twitter.com\/VXwyhsDOnD\u2014 Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 11, 2026 <\/p>\n
Starmer has banned 11 speakers from entering the UK, including Belgian nationalist politician Filip Dewinter, Dutch activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek, and American pro-MAGA commentator Valentina Gomez. \u201cWe will not allow people to come to the UK to threaten our communities and spread hate on our streets,\u201d he said in a speech on Monday, describing those targeted as \u201cfar-right agitators.\u201d\u201cStarmer has just admitted he banned me and other commentators from traveling to the UK because we would \u2018set back communities\u2019,\u201d Vlaardingerbroek said in response to the ban. \u201cYet mass third-world migration doesn\u2019t bother him as it only sets back the one community he doesn\u2019t give a rat\u2019s ass about: the White native population.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starmer has just admitted he banned me and other commentators from traveling to the UK because we would \u201cset back communities.\u201d Yet mass third-world migration doesn\u2019t bother him as it only sets back the one community he doesn\u2019t give a rat\u2019s ass about: the White native population. pic.twitter.com\/oIBdDdORD5\u2014 Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) May 11, 2026 <\/p>\n
Is there a counterprotest?
\nPrevious Unite the Kingdom rallies have been met by smaller crowds of left-wing counterprotesters. This year, the march takes place on the same day as a pro-Palestine rally marking \u2018Nakba Day\u2019, which commemorates the expulsion of Palestinians from their territory in what is now the state of Israel.
\nThe Nakba Day march was not organized to oppose Unite the Kingdom, although some groups attending the pro-Palestine rally say they\u2019re doing so both to support the Palestinian cause and oppose Robinson\u2019s \u201chate march.\u201d<\/p>\n
This Saturday 16 May\u2026Show fascist Tommy Robinson & the far right that we won\u2019t let them divide us. pic.twitter.com\/YdMh012ubs\u2014 Stand Up To Racism (@AntiRacismDay) May 14, 2026 <\/p>\n
The Metropolitan Police will not scan Nakba Day protesters with facial recognition cameras, although Harman has warned that speakers and participants at the rally will \u201cface consequences\u201d if they use \u201chateful\u201d slogans such as \u201cintifada\u201d or \u201cdeath to the IDF.\u201d
\nUnite the Kingdom supporters have accused Starmer and the Met of \u201ctwo-tier\u201d policing \u2013 using harsher measures against them than the counter-protesters
\nHowever, the speech restrictions deployed against both gatherings illustrates why Starmer is so despised by both the right and left. After his 2024 crackdown on anti-immigration speech, Starmer listed Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, arrested thousands of protesters for voicing support for said organization, and called for the \u201cpolicing of language\u201d and banning of anti-Israel protests.
\nIf any common ground exists between Tommy Robinson\u2019s marchers and the pro-Palestine crowd, it\u2019s in their mutual resentment of Starmer\u2019s government, which will be on full display in London this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thousands of police officers will be deployed in London for Tommy Robinson\u2019s rally Tommy Robinson\u2019s \u2018Unite the Kingdom\u2019 rally is so controversial that the British government has deployed the latest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t